Shark Week + Essential Oils: Yes, Please!

At the close of Shark Week 2018, we thought that Suzanne Rodolfich's Shark Week-themed posts were too good not to share on our blog! Enjoy:) 

Shark Skin? No, Thanks! Best Essential Oils for Skin Care 

Essential Oils are a great, natural way to take care of your skin! 

Did you know that shark skin actually looks and feels like little interlocking teeth? Um, no thank you!

Young Living offers SO many options for your skin! Here are a just a few top skin oils:

Top Essential Oils for Skin

• Frankincense—helps create youthful appearance 
• Tea Tree—cleanses skin
• Geranium—helps provide healthy, clear, glowing skin
• Cypress—smooths skin
• Copiaba—reduces redness
• Sandalwood—soothes, tightens, cleanses
• Blue Tansy—soothes, reduces redness, provides antioxidant
• Kunzea—provides antioxidant benefits (check out the pics of how the Kunzea plant affects a barbed wire fence)

DIY Skin Care Recipes

My Toner Recipe

• Witch Hazel  
• Equal parts Frankincense (glow), Lavender (soothe), Lemon, (brighten), Copiaba

My Skin Cream Recipe

I originally created this as a diaper cream, but now I use it for all sorts of skin issues.

• Coconut oil
• Shea butter
• Equal parts Frankincense, Tea Tree, and Lavender

My Facial Serum Recipe

• 3 drops Frankincense
• 2 drops Myrrh,
• 1 drop Rose

Lots of options, right? I love that we can take care of our skin with non-toxic products that meet our skin’s unique needs!

Do you sleep like a shark? Best Oils for Sleep Support

So many sleep support oils, which are your favorites? 

So apparently there’s lots of controversy about how and if and when sharks sleep:

• They seem to be very active at night
• Most species have to remain in motion, so for years scientists thought sharks didn’t sleep
• However, now scientists think they enter periods of rest where they slow down, but their eyes are open, and it’s not a true deep sleep

Did I describe any of you with those facts? Maybe your kids?

I think many of us seek out essential oils because we need sleep support—that was my reason 5 years ago!

But just like there are lots of things we don’t know about sharks’ sleeping habits, there are so many variables with our own sleeping habits that finding an Essential Oils combo for sleep support can be trial and error.

Best Oils for Sleep Support

• Lavender: Most people start with Lavender—this doesn’t work for me or Jonna 
• Frankincense: this is a fav in our house and a Lavender + Frankincense combo can be powerful
• Stress Away
• Peace and Calming

If you really want to sleep like the dead, then consider these heavy hitters:

• Valor
• Valerian
• Rutavala
• DreamCatcher

And then there are a few that kids especially find calming:

• Gentle Baby
• Roman Chamomile 
• SleepyIze

And finally, you may want to consider WHY you aren’t sleeping: Are you worried? Is your child needing a little extra security? Sometimes if we can support our emotions, we can sleep better.

Suzanne's Picks

So—what do WE use for sleep support in our house?

The Kids

• Jonna (6)—Frankincense, Valor, or Palo Santo
• Zanna (5)—Frankincense,  Valor, or Palo Santo
• Mila (3)—Palo Santo and White Angelica
• Vin (1)—Lavender or Peace and Calming

The Adults

• Me—Valor or Rutavala (the kids would use the Rutavala, too, but that’s liquid gold and I’m a little stingy with it )
• The hubs—whatever I’m diffusing 

And despite this lengthy post, there are still more options—I feel like I am leaving so many good ones out!

Maybe you can help me out—what are your family’s favorite oils for sleep support?

Skip the Blue Shark Blues: Essential Oils for Mood Support

No need to feel like the Blue Shark! Try out these tried and true mood boosting oils. 

This is the blue shark—according to my friends Google and Wikipedia, they are sort of sluggish and lethargic in their movements. 

Top Oils for Mood Boosting

If you’re feeling the same way, maybe a little down, a little blue, here are some oily tips to try:

• A drop of Frankincense Vitality daily under the tongue (this is a my go-to mood lifter)
• Frankincense + Lemon in the diffuser
•  A few drops of Joy in your hands and inhale
• Ylang Ylang + Orange in the diffuser
• Super B an energy and mood lifter all in one—do you know how much our body NEEDS B vitamins? They are vital! I made this a part of my daily routine after I had Vin.
• NingXia Red—daily, daily, daily! In addition to about a hundred other things, it supports healthy energy levels and regulates blood sugar (anybody else get HANGRY?)

Raise your hand if you had fun with Essential Oil SHARK WEEK! Share any skin, sleep or mood support tips below. Bonus points for Shark-themed ideas:) 

Oily Hacks for Mamas

Today, Natalie Mechell, first time-contributor and busy mom of two, shares some practical Oily Hacks for mamas. As she puts it, “Because we can always use a little more convenience and a lot more time.” We couldn’t agree more!

These little tricks have made naps and bedtimes go a little smoother, walking out the door before a busy day easier, and dealing with the seasonal-ick not quite so daunting.

So what do I do to make things easier, simpler? Here are a few of my …

Oily Hacks for Mamas

These roll-on oily hacks are easy to make and even easier to apply! Perfect for the busy oily mama. 

Immune Support

We use Thieves and Oregano Daily! This helps my family maintain healthy immune systems and protect us during the seasonal yuck we all dread come Back to School days! Here’s how to create a quick and easy immune-supporting rollerball for each of these mama must-have oils:

Thieves

What You Need

• 5 ml or 15 ml bottle of Thieves Vitality
• Fractionated coconut oil
• Roller fitment

What You Do

1. Dilute: When our Thieves bottle is about half full, I fill it back up with fractionated coconut oil for dilution. You can play with ratios to find the dilution that is best for your family!
2. Top: Click a roller fitment into the top of your bottle.
3. Roll: We roll on our spine, bottoms of feet, wrists, and – for us – wherever we can swipe really!

Oregano

What You Need

• 5 ml or 15 ml bottle of Oregano Vitality
• Fractionated coconut oil  
• Roller fitment

What You Do

1. Dilute: I pump fractionated coconut oil when our Oregano bottle is a little less than half way and then fill to the top. I dilute Oregano more because it can be quite uncomfortable when not diluted properly.
2. Top: Install roller fitment.
3. Roll: Apply on spine daily.

Sweet Dreams Support  

We love lavender! My daughter and I are big fans of this calming oil, especially when comes to our sleep routines. Here’s a quick DIY recipe for my favorite sleep blend, turned into, you guessed it: a convenient roll-on.

What You Need

• 25 drops of Lavender
• 25 drops of Stress Away
• Fractionated coconut oil
• Roller fitment
• Empty oil bottle
• Essential oil funnel

What You Do

1. Combine: Use funnel to help you neatly add oils to empty oil bottle.                                  Pro Tip: Use an empty Lavender or Stress Away bottle for the best results.
2. Dilute: Fill bottle with fractionated coconut oil.
3. Top: Place a roller fitment on top.
4. Roll: We roll this on the sides of our neck before naps and bedtime daily! (Daddy uses Lavender and Cedarwood.)

Of course this is what we use for our sleepy times, but you might love Cedarwood, Vetiver, Frankincense, or R.C.

Student Support

I use this tip to encourage my son (who is 3 years old) to not only smell great, but stay focused and tuned in to his fun-filled learning day!

What You Need

• Bottle of KidScents Geneyus
• Fractionated coconut oil
• Roller fitment

What You Do

1. Dilute: take an almost full bottle of Geneyus and fill with fractionated coconut oil. I barely dilute.
2. Top: Place roller fitment on top.
3. Roll: Roll on wrists and sides of neck before heading out the door.

Mama Support

Last but not certainly least, mama has her "perfume" I like to call it. I use a little Joy, Stress Away, and Grapefruit to give me a signature scent that keeps me bright for days.

What You Need

• 7 drops Joy
• 25 drops Stress Away
• 15 drops Grapefruit
• Fractionated coconut oil
• Roller fitment
• Empty oil bottle
• Essential oil funnel

What You Do

1. Combine: Add drops to your empty bottle carefully, using your funnel.
2. Dilute: Top off with fractionated coconut oil to dilute a little.
3. Top: Pop in a roller fitment and voila!
4. Roll: Apply wherever you would commercial perfume: neck, wrists, chest, even the back of your knees.

Of course you can change drops to your preference, but I love to smell the Stress Away!

Easy, Right?

These practical tips have helped mornings, naps and bedtimes go a little more smoothly without compromising time with too many steps.

What would you mix in a bottle and keep on hand for daily use?

Newborn & Baby Oils

Welcome to our Family + Essential Oils series. We plan to cover every age and stage: Oils for Toddlers, Moms, Dads, Grandparents and Family Vacation. Someone we left out? Let us know in the comments and we’ll add them to our plan!

This is actually our second week, so if you missed our Postpartum post, take the time to catch up (we’ll wait:). Oh, and while you’re at it, check out the Top 10 Oils for Pregnancy – it happens to be one of our all-time top 10 posts.

Ok, now that we’ve talked mamas-to-be and new mamas, we’re ready to share some general guidelines and tips for using oils with your baby.

Essential Tips for Your Oily Baby

Ready for baby's first oil? Try out these oily newborn tips. 

Ingestion Tips

Gotcha! No tips here. Young Living suggests waiting until after babyhood to try any of our vitality line with your child. We agree! The oils are powerful and highly concentrated for such little bodies.

Topical Tips

Young Living’s official recommendation for littles 0-1 is a 1:8 oil to carrier ratio. We say that’s a good starting point, but remember that every baby is different. Test dilution with your little one.

And if you are going to try a new oil on your child it’s a good idea to use just a drop or two on a small patch first, like the forearm. After a successful patch test (a few minutes with no reaction), you can apply as needed!

Pro Tip: Apply the essential oils first, followed by your favorite dilution oil.  

Aromatic Tips

Again, think “start gently” when it comes to aromatically sharing oils with your baby. You can create a bond with baby by simply wearing an oil while skin to skin. And, just like the topical patch test, you will want to diffuse an oil for a short time at first to ensure your child has no sensitivity.

First Oily Days

In their Oils for the Nursery post, Young Living lists a few oils to use with caution with your baby.

• Idaho Tansy
• Clary Sage
• Hyssop
• Wintergreen
• Eucalyptus
• Peppermint

While watching for these oils is a good idea, it’s an even better idea to try out some of our favorites to support your little one’s health.

• Ear Support: Melrose & Roman Chamomile, apply 1-2 drops behind and around ears
• Diapering Support:
  • Lavender & Frankincense, apply 1-2 drops on diaper area after a change with some coconut oil
  • Try our DIY Baby Powder
•  Respiratory Support: Lavender or Peace & Calming, apply to chest, bottom of feet and diffuse intermittently during nap. Also, try diffusing Lavender & SniffleEase during the night or nap.
• Sleep support: Lavender & Cedarwood,1-2 drops on chest and bottom of feet.
• Mood Support: Frankincense & Joy, 1-2 drops over the heart
• Digestive Support: DiGize/TummyGize, apply over the chest and belly 15 - 20 minutes before feedings. You can also apply after feeding, if needed.
• Gut Health: Fennel, apply 1-2 drops over the colon area, rub clockwise

And that’s it, baby! Again, let us know if there are any ages or family members you’d like to see included in our series and we’ll get a writer on it!